Marconi has talked to Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and received a copy of Danbury's ordinance to use as a framework for Ridgefield's.

Called "Child Safety Zones," the sites a sex offender could not go to would include parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, bathing beaches, swimming or wading pools, gyms, sports fields and facilities, including the parking areas and land surrounding any of these locations.

Marconi said he does not think having such an ordinance on the books would deter convicted sexual offenders from moving into Ridgefield. However, he does believe that ordinance would "make these areas covered much safer for our children."

"That's what we're trying to do," he said.

Marconi's desire to have such an ordinance grew from convicted sex offender Carl T. Fisher moving to Ridgefield in September. Residents were outraged that Fisher, who is embroiled in court proceedings on a probation violation for an alleged act of public lewdness in New York City, was living in their town.

Fisher was first convicted in 1997 of first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor following an incident at his family's home in Redding. The 1996 assault was on a preteen Colorado girl who was staying at Fisher's mother's Redding home following a wedding reception.

"We cannot say we don't allow any sex offenders in our community but we can add to the geographic areas where the presence of such an individual is not allowed," Marconi said.

Danbury's ordinance went into effect in spring 2007. It gives police the authority to ask for identification of a suspicious person who is found in a child safety area. If that person is a registered sex offender, they can then tell that person to leave the area. If the person does not leave or has a subsequent violation, the officer can give him or her a $100 fine for each violation.

Danbury was the first municipality in the state of Connecticut to pass such an ordinance.

"I had seen the ordinance done in other cities and towns across the country," Boughton said. "Obviously I have an interest in children and their safety. We began our research and drafted the ordinance."

States began trying to keep track of sex offenders more than 50 years ago, when in 1947, California enacted the first sex offender registration law, Danbury's research showed. Now all states have sex offender registration laws that help law enforcement agencies keep track of offenders' movements.

At least 21 states have laws restricting where registered sex offenders can visit or live. The most common type of restriction prohibits them from living within a certain distance of specified places where children congregate.

"The most important issue as a result of our present situation is that parenting is a 24/7 job," Marconi said. "Regardless of their age, always know where your children are. The younger they are, the more important this is."